Misunderstanding
by ispksarcasm
Summary: When Jack over hears something he shouldn't of, he misunderstands and that can lead to all sorts of problems.
1. Chapter 1

*insert pointless disclaimer here*

* * *

Jack O'Neill walked through the halls of the SGC, he was heading toward Carter's lab. He always found something to play with there, plus the company wasn't too bad either. He thought about the beautiful blonde astrophyscist and smiled, yeah... definitely not to bad. As he entered the hallway he heard hushed voices and that made him stop. He recognized those voices, Daniel and Sam... er Carter.

"Daniel, just promise you won't tell _anyone_ about this," Carter said in an anxious whisper. His interest was piqued, what would they want to keep a secret?

"But Sam, shouldn't we at least tell Teal'c and..." Daniel asked quietly but was interupted.

"No!" She practically shouted, "No one, especially _not _the Colonel," His mind was whirring, what were they talking about and why wouldn't she want him to know.

Daniel sighed, "Fine I won't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret." Carter let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you," she breathed. Jack decided it was time to interupt their little pow-wow.

He walked up to her lab just in time to see Carter kiss Daniel on the cheek, and realization dawned on him. A horrible, _horrible_ realization. Sam and Daniel were dating, Sam had chosen the doctor over himself.

"Mornin' campers," he said once he recovered, they both looked up, shocked to see him but he put on his best innocent face and pretended he hadn't heard a thing and that his heart wasn't breaking.

"Hi Jack," Daniel said, first to recover from the shock.

"I was just going to grab some lunch, you two wanna join?"

"Uh... actually I was just heading back to my office, I need to translate some writing on the artefacts that SG-9 brought back P3X-587."

Jack rolled his eyes, putting on an act of his normal self while he tried to control the caos inside. "Carter?" he said turning to her, trying to hide the pain in his eyes.

"Sorry Sir, I'm working on this," she said indicating her latest doohickey.

"Fine. Guess I'm on my own," he said, not sure if he was just talking about lunch anymore. "See you kids later," he turned tail and left, not sure if he could hold his composure for much longer.

* * *

_*Flashback*_

_Daniel had been translating something on Sam's latest doohickey. He had just finsihed, "Alright, I better get back to my lab, more translating to do."_

_"Sure, thanks Daniel," Sam said, his translation had helped a lot._

_He began walking out and then stopped, "Hey, Sam?" he asked._

_"Yeah?" she said tearing her eyes away from the piece of technology and looking at the curious archeologist._

_"What's the big red X on your calender two days from now?" he questioned._

_"Oh, um..." she had been hoping no one would ask, that's why she hadn't labeled the day, it would have made it too obvious._

_"Sam," he said sternly hoping to get it out of her._

_"It's my birthday," she said quietly._

_"Oh! Why didn't you tell us? We'll throw you a party," he said already making plans._

_"No! I don't want anyone to know," she said as the archeologists eyebrows rose._

_"Why?" he asked thoroughly confused._

_"Because I don't like celebrating my birthday," she replied simply._

_"Okay but..." he began only to be interupted by Sam._

_"Daniel, just promise you won't tell _anyone_ about this," she said, hoping he would just agree and let this go, she really didn't want everyone to make a fuss over her birthday, she liked to be just left alone._

_"But Sam, shouldn't we at least tell Teal'c and..." Shouldn't the team at least know?_

_"No!" She practically shouted, "No one, especially not the Colonel," _

_Sighing heavily Daniel gave in seeing the pleading look on his friends face, "Fine I won't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret."_

_"Thank you," she said sighing in relief. She got up and kissed him on the cheek throwing her arms around his neck in a sort of friendly hug._

_"Mornin' campers," came a voice from behind them, she froze in shock really hoping he hadn't heard any part of that last conversation and pulled away from Daniel meeting the eyes of her CO._

* * *

Jack pressed his palms against his eyes, resting his elbows on the table in the commisary. He tried to forget why this was bothering him so much, that even though it was clearly forbidden he had always had some hope that she was as in love with him as he was with her.

He supposed it made sense, they were both young and good-looking and God knows they were both smarter than him, but he had always some small shred of hope that if there were ever a time when they could be together that she would choose him, that she would _want_ him. That she would've have waited for him, like he would have waited for her.

He removed his hands from his face and ran them through his hair, he needed to get a handle on himself before their briefing in half an hour. He picked up his fork and began to eat his cake. He didn't even notice the tall blonde standing over him until she cleared her throat and said, "Sir?"

He looked up and raised his eyebrows, not sure if his voice would give him away yet. "Mind if I join you?" she asked indicating the open seat in front of him with her blue Jell-o. He shrugged and she sat down. After a few moments of tense silence she asked, "Are you okay Sir?"

He cleared his throat, "Yeah, I'm fine Carter. Why do you ask?" Was he being obvious? He slid his mask further into place, hoping to betray no emotion.

She shrugged, "I don't know, you just look... upset about something."

Upset! Try heart-broken, completely and totally depressed, tortured, in agony, "I'm fine," he said forcing a smile.

She narrowed her eyes, she didn't believe him but she let it drop. Clearly he didn't want to talk about it now, she would force it out of him later.

They continued to eat in silence until she finished her Jell-o and he his cake, then the both got up to go to the briefing.

* * *

A/N: okay so it's late, i'm done for tonight but i wanted to post it, see if anyone wants to see how it ends.

sorry it's so short. please review to let me know what you think and if you have any ideas!


	2. Chapter 2

disclaimer: you know the drill.

* * *

The time he had had to settle into the idea of them dating before the briefing hadn't helped one bit. If anything it had made it worse. Imagining them together as anything more than friends stung more everytime he thought about it. Especially when she was sitting right there with him, unknowingly stealing his breath away.

She was just so...Carter, all the time, when she was figuring out all her doohickeys, or speaking to him in her techno-babble, even just eating blue Jell-o like she had been in the commisary. It was all those little things that had made him fall in... no, not love with her. He couldn't admit that. He couldn't admit it before and he still can't, especially not now.

Ever since he had overheard them the mental pictures he had been having kept getting worse, Daniel and Sam. Sam and Daniel. No Jack, no one cared about Jack.

He twirled a pen back and forth between his fingers, hoping it would distract him from his thoughts. It wasn't working too well.

* * *

She watched the blurred motion as the pen flicked back and forth quickly between his fingers. Daniel was completely oblivious to his bored spectators as he prattled on about the race they should encounter on P3X-something. She looked back at the Colonel, what was wrong with him? He was acting so... odd and she had no idea why. Maybe he had overheard something and was upset that she didn't want him to know it was her birthday.

She studied his face for a moment. It was back again, that mask that had been there when they first met, she wondered if something that simple that could have caused this. He looked up feeling her gaze and she saw the briefest flash of pain before his eyes went dead and he continued to stare at her, emotionless. She flinched away from the blank look she was recieving. No, it's not something that simple, this was something big, something important, something... something.

She looked away and back at Daniel, she didn't like that dead look in his eyes, she didn't like the mask he had set into place. Daniel sent her a quizzical look, and she realized she had been frowning, she smiled warmly at him and nodded her head. He returned the smile before he continued.

She had to talk to Jack er...the Colonel and find out what this was about. She glanced once more at the sullen Colonel.

And she had to do it soon.

* * *

Ugh, he looked back down the pen in his hands disgusted. That smile she had sent Daniel, it was too much, he focused hard on the pen, on the blurred image he was seeing, trying to forget where he was, trying to forget how much this bothered him.

That smile kept flashing through his eyes, he remembered when she had smiled at _him _like that. He was losing control of his emotions and he couldn't let that happen, not in the briefing room, not in front of her.

So he focused even harder on the pen swiveling back and forth in his hands. The thoughts just kept swirling around in his head, Daniel and Sam. Sam and Daniel.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize the briefing had ended until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He flinched away from the touch and she pulled back her hand sadly, "Sir?" she asked, her voice startling him out his own, personal hell.

He drained all emotion from his face and looked up at her, "The briefings over, we're leaving in 0100 hours," she said quietly.

"Right," he said getting up from his seat. Daniel and Sam, Sam and Daniel.

"Is something wrong, Sir?" she asked softly.

'Everything,' he thought. He turned to her and saw the pleading look on her face, begging him to tell her why he wasn't okay. Daniel and Sam. Sam and Daniel. He plastered a smile on his face and lied through his teeth. "Nothings wrong, Carter," he said before leaving the room.

* * *

She watched his retreating form, what was wrong with him? Why wouldn't he tell her, had she done something wrong? Should she follow him? She decided that she should and quickly followed him out of the room. They walked through several hallways, she could tell he was muttering under his breath but she couldn't hear what it was that he was saying. He was heading toward the locker rooms and she followed him in, it was SG-1's locker room after all.

She stood against the wall so quietly that he didn't notice she was there. Jack... _The_ _Colonel_, she had to stop slipping with his name... leaned his forehead against the cool of the lockers still muttering to himself though she still couldn't make out what it was that he was saying.

"Dammit!" he breathed harshly, pulling his head away and punching the locker as hard as he could, denting it but also causing his knuckles to bleed. He pulled back his hand and started shaking it, it was then that he noticed Sam. He spun around looking her full on, eyes wide, the pain in his hand forgotten.

"Si...Sir?" she stammered. She was scared, she had never seen him lose control like that. And she was even more scared of whatever had caused him to lose control like that.

He just stared at her, she watched his eyes carefully, watching the change in them. Surprise... pain... nothing. There it was, the mask, he didn't say anything, he just stared and so did she.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

She saw the hint of bitterness in his eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine Carter," he said, but knowing him as well as she did, she didn't miss the hint of sarcasm in his tone. There was something else there too. There was pleading, he was begging her to stop questioning him, to forget about it. But she wouldn't, she couldn't.

She tried not to think about _why_ this was bothering her so much. Pretending it was because she was worried about her friend and not because of anything else. Not because she cared a little bit too much about her commanding officer. No, that wasn't the reason, at least, that's what she's trying to convince herself of.

"Then what was that, with the locker?" she asked, still speaking quietly though she didn't know why. She studied him, hoping he would give something away, something in his stance or face, but nothing, he held himself with the composure of a seasoned actor. Or a man with a _lot_ of security clearance. The dead look he was giving her even more un-nerving than before.

* * *

"Oh that," he looked toward the locker, trying to come up with some way to cover that up, he hadn't known she had been there. His thoughts had been screaming at him, Daniel and Sam. Sam and Daniel.

He picked up a towel and wiped the blood away from his hand. All that could be seen were a few scrapes, he was stalling until he came up with a good excuse. "It owed me some money," he said sarcastically and hopefully. Hoping she'd smile and laugh and pretend right along with him.

Her eyes were looking right at his and the intensity of her gaze was making him crumble. He would give something away if she didn't stop soon, he silently prayed she would walk away and leave him to his own misery.

She gave him a stern look, "Sir," she warned. Just then Daniel and Teal'c walked in, unaware of the situation they had just interupted and headed for their lockers.

Their eye contact broke and he looked at Daniel, grateful to have something to look at other than Sam's... Carter's eyes. Her gorgeous blue eyes, the eyes he fell in love... uh, not love with.

"Hey guys," Daniel said, opening his locker and pulling his shirt over his head as he began to change.

'Oh, sure,' Jack thought, 'show off your muscles for your new girl.' He scowled at Daniel and then turned to his own locker and took off his shirt, begining to change himself.

"Hey," he replied trying to keep all emotion out of his voice, so as not to give himself away. Daniel noticed nothing of course, after all, he was still Daniel. Carter continued to study him, he saw her watching him out of the corner of her eye as she headed toward her locker.

Teal'c being slightly more observant than the completely oblivious archeologist looked between the two and raised an eyebrow. Seeing the trademark look, she shook her head slightly and the Jaffa bowed his head and continued to his locker.

Jack looked at Sam as she pulled all her stuff from her locker, she would wait for the boys to leave to change like she always did. He pushed away all the horrible scenarios entering his mind in which she invited Daniel to stay with her. He scowled into the depths of his locker, this was going to be a long mission.

* * *

A/N: so what'd ya think? I know I made Jack much more angsty in this one... it was just easier. The next one will be the mission, I hope to write that one soon.

Thanks so much for all the reviews! please tell me what you think of this one!

sorry it took so long to post, i seriously believe that my teachers look foward to sadistically giving as much homework as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

'Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.' - Neil Gaiman

Just thought that this quote fit the story really well =)

the disclaimer thingy goes *here*

* * *

As he entered the gate room he risked a glance at her, he had been avoiding her eyes since they had left the locker room. She was watching the gate as it spun to life, there was a small look of wonder in her eyes, there always was when she looked at the 'gate. He hated that look. Hated her voice, hated her eyes, hated her hair, hated her techno babble and her blue Jell-o, he hated everything about her, but most of all he hated the way he loved her.

Feeling his gaze she looked up, their eyes met for a second before he pulled away and stared at the gate as it 'kawooshed'. Those eyes, those eyes he hated, those eyes he loved.

He hopped up onto the ramp, "Let's go kids," he said, focusing hard on the gate. Though it didn't help much, the shimmering blue of the wormhole only reminded him of her eyes, which reminded him of the rest of her, which is exactly what he was trying to forget.

Well, not forget so much as not focus on for a while. He sighed just before he stepped through the gate, this was going to be a really, _really _long mission.

* * *

She tried not to think about the pain she saw in his eyes, she didn't know what it was that was causing this, but whatever it was she wished she could stop it, hurt it as much as it was hurting him.

After stepping through the gate Samantha Carter did a double take. Everything on this planet was... pink. Yeah, _really_ pink.

She looked around, "Uh... Carter?" she heard the voice of her CO in front of her, "Is everything a little..."

"Pink?" she supplied. She hadn't seen this much of the color since she had been five and barbie seemed cool.

"Yeah, thats the word I was looking for," he said, she continued looking around, everything from the grass to the leaves on the trees was indeed pink.

"Did anyone pay attention at the briefing?" Daniel asked exasperated.

"No," Sam and Jack... _the Colonel_ said at the same time. They glanced at each other and fought smiles.

"I listened attentively to you during the briefing Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. They both sent glares toward the large man, whose side was he on?

Suddenly she realized that the Colonel was acting like himself again. She looked at her CO, whatever it was that was bothering him, he seemed to have forgotten it momentarily in the shock of a very pink planet. His face that had been so masked before was just like his usual self. He was fighting a smile as he looked out his friends and his eyes twinkled with laughter. She smiled, she liked when he was happy, it made her happy by default.

"Thank you Teal'c," Daniel said, "I told you all that this planet was going to be very pink. Basically this planet is like a 24/7 Valentines Day."

And then the mask was back.

* * *

Jack stiffened at Daniel's words, and suddenly he remembered why he was so sullen and annoyed all day. Great just what he needed. The two lovebirds on a romantic plant, he tried to keep his emotions off of his face, pretending not to notice the frown forming on his second's face as his mask settled into place. He frowned a little too, he liked it better when she smiled, she was always beautiful but when she smiled... on second thought, maybe its better if she didn't smile.

"The town should be about 1 mile that way," Daniel said pointing to the west again not noticing any change in his friends behavior.

"If we start walking now, we should reach it before sun down," Jack said beginning to walk in the direction Daniel pointed. His thoughts attacked him as they began walking through the very pink foilage. Daniel and Sam, Sam and Daniel. Sam and Jack didn't exist, Jack and Sam would never happen.

Sam and Jack. Daniel _not _Jack. Daniel and Sam.

* * *

As they walked she studied him, he seemed like he was concentrating on something, something that was really important and something that was hurting him. She wanted to just go over and ask what was wrong for the umpteenth time, but she knew he would never give anything away. He would say his was fine and brush her off. She continued to watch him, studying every angle looking for something, for any clue, trying to ignore the part of her brain that was enjoying the view.

He never looked up at her, he just kept walking, his eyes trained on the pink ground. She wanted to grab him and scream at him to let it go, to hold him until it wasn't a problem ... to kiss him until he forgot ... anything. Anything that would make him happy again.

* * *

They were almost to the town when Jack was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Hello," a soft voice said. In front of him stood a man dressed in robes. Pink robes. Very pink robes. His hair was long and white and his forehead was speckled with the wrinkles of old age. "Who are you?" the man asked. He didn't seem frightened or scared, just curious.

"I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c, who are you?" Daniel asked, seeming grateful that the man spoke english.

"I am Corin. It is nice to meet you Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c," he replied bowing his head to each in turn.

"It's nice to meet you too Corin. Do you think you could show us to your town?" Daniel said. Corin looked them all over, noticing their extreme lack of... pink.

"Of course," he said, it was a good thing that the goa'uld had never found this place, Jack thought, this guy was way too trusting. Daniel and Teal'c followed the large man in pink with himself and Sa...CARTER! his brain shouted at him, tagging along behind.

It didn't take long to reach the city limits, they were almost there by themselves anyway. The entrance to the city was interesting, more like an archway in the walls surrounding the city, the very pink walls. At the top of the archway was a large flower, it was the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. The petals, unlike the rest of the planet, were a pale blue and they flowed together with a color he had never seen before and could not name even if he tried. The color at first glance was almost black but when you looked closely it exploded into all the colors you could think of, it was amazing and impossible and brilliant. And it reminded him a lot of the blonde standing in front of him.

* * *

She stared at the colorful flower, she had never seen anything like it, it was fantastic. That color, that confusing color was one she had never seen before. Just like her Colonel... THE Colonel, he wasn't hers... not yet anyway. She mentally smacked herself, she wasn't allowed to have thoughts like this but staring at the beautiful flower she couldn't stop those thoughts she had locked up for so long.

She had never met anyone quite like him, and all cliches aside, she didn't want anyone else. Not now, not ever. She snuck a glance at him, at first glance you saw a dull black, but when you looked closely you saw all those little amazing traits, all those colors, that made him who he was.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

But there was something wrong now, looking at the mask he wore, the mask that hid the Colonel away, hid _her_ Colonel away, all she saw was the black.

* * *

He was so busy studying the beautiful flower that he just barely heard Daniels call from the other side of the wall, "Jack? Sam? You guys coming?" he shook his head and looked around. He saw his second standing there sheepishly, he guessed that she had been looking at the flower too.

'Though she probably thought of Daniel the whole time,' he thought bitterly. "Go on," he said motioning with his P-90 for her to go first. She began walking through the archway but froze when the townspeople started screaming at her.

"STOP!" "WAIT!" they all shouted. She stopped so abruptly that he walked right into and he had to grab her arm to steady her.

"What's going on?" he distantly heard Daniel ask Corin, he was trying _very _hard to ignore the tingles that their contact was sending up and down his arm. Feeling the warmth of her skin through the BDU jacket was driving him crazy. His hand lingered on her arm, he didn't want to let go.

Corin looked at him as though the answer were obvious, "They have to kiss!" he said, _this _Jack heard. His hand tightened on her arm.

"WHAT?" he heard himself shout at the same time as Carter and Daniel.

"It is tradition!" Corin said happily, "When a man and woman walk under the Leaf of Amor they must kiss."

"Daniel!" Jack shouted, not that he didn't want to kiss her, he really did. But he didn't think his best friend would be too happy if he started kissing Sam..._Carter._

"That's interesting, it's like the cultural equivolent of mistltoe," Daniel said before he began mumbling to himself. Jack was stunned, 'I'm being asked to kiss his girlfriend and all he can think about is _cultural equivolents_!'

"Daniel!" Jack shouted again.

"Just do it Jack!" he shouted back, Jack's eyes widened in shock. 'He's asking me to kiss Sam. TO KISS HIS GIRLFRIEND!'

"But Daniel!" he said, he realized he was almost whining. He wanted so badly to do this and if they kept testing his self control like this, he would give in.

"Jack... it's tradition," Jack sighed, 'In other words, let's not piss off the locals,' he thought bitterly.

"Sir," Sam said turning to him, something had changed. He looked into those eyes, those eyes he hated and loved, and there was something new there. There was want, there was need.

"Carter?" he asked softly. She brought his hand up to his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, her touch sending tingles all through his skin.

She brushed thumb across his cheek and he tried to contain a shiver, "Jack," she whispered.

It was her saying his name that did it, his mask faded away.

* * *

His eyes fluttered open, the logical part of her was screaming at her not to do this but she couldn't stop, not now. Hell she knew that something like this was going to happen eventually, she just didn't expect it to be so... public. Or pink for that matter.

She looked into his eyes and saw his mask dissolve away, she saw the pain and the want and the desire. She saw it all, every last color.

Though he held the commanding position she was in charge now, she could make the decision. She pulled his face down to hers so that their breaths mingled in the space between their lips. She was dimly aware of the many onlookers they had but she didn't care. She wanted this, wanted his lips on hers, wanted it to be _him _that she was kissing.

She closed the distance between them slowly, painfully slow, giving him a chance to back down or walk away, to tell her that he doesn't want her like this and that this was wrong. All those chances and he didn't take them. Their lips touched lightly, sweetly and it set of a fire, wanting more of this, more of him. His hand, still on her arm, slid up to her neck, not pulling her closer, not pushing her away. She pulled him closer and he didn't stop her, she was kissing him hard with years of pent up desire and then all too soon he pulled away, walking into the town and not looking back. Leaving her standing in the middle of the archway, with her fingers on her lips, where his had just been, watching him walk away.

* * *

A/N: Ta-da. hope you all liked this. I used this chapter as a means to completely procrastinate my english essay. I really hate writing essays. So if I get a bad grade you only have yourselves to blame.

please do not ask where the pink planet and the flower came from, even i don't know.

so please review! i am not above begging.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: i really feel like this is redundant at this point, but i'll put it here anyways just for old times sake.

So sorry that this took so **ridiculously** long, my teachers really hate me and are trying to kill me(I am not paranoid... WHICH OF MY ENEMIES TOLD YOU THIS?)

and also this chapter really is much longer than the others.

Thanks to all my reviewers! You have no idea how happy I get when I get a review alert.

its almost sad. haha, hope you like this chapter!

and now without further ado, our feature presentation:

* * *

He felt like screaming. He felt like throwing something at the wall as hard as he could. He felt like running back and kissing her as passionately as he could. He felt like a man who had just learned the true meaning of be careful what you wish for.

He stalked into an alley between two stone buildings, pretending not to notice all the eyes following him, pretending not to hear the murmurs that broke out after he left. The shadows of the buildings hiding him from view, he sunk against the wall out of sight of the many townspeople, sliding down to the ground with his knees pressed to his chest. It was quiet here, he couldn't hear anything, he couldn't see anyone, he was alone in his own personal hell.

How could she do this to him? How could she do this to Daniel? Though Daniel didn't seem to have much of a problem with it. _Just do it Jack. _

He didn't understand what was going on. How could she kiss him like that, exactly how he wanted her to kiss him, when she was dating Daniel?

He touched his lips with his fingers, remembering what it had felt like to have her kiss him. He let out a cry of frustration, kicking the ground with his foot as if it were responsible for his current situation and then burying his head in his hands.

"What's her name?" he heard a feminine voice ask. He looked up startled and stared, he had thought he had been alone. At the entrance to the alleyway was a young woman, she looked to be about thirty, her hair bushy and brown around her face. Her dark skin contrasting wildly with the light pink robes she wore, and she looked at him with a curious gaze.

"Who are you?" Jack stammered recovering from his shock, still on the ground he made no move to get up or to go for his side arm, just staring.

She shook her head slowly, a small smile on her lips, "I am Nanna, though my name is not the important one," his brows furrowed together as he looked at the young woman. She walked over to him and slid down next to him, "What's her name?" she repeated simply.

"How do you know that this is about a girl?" he asked, he didn't know why but he didn't bother to replace his mask, there was something about this woman. He let her see his pain, his anger, his frustration, he let her see everything.

The small smile returned to her lips, "No man ever get's this upset if a woman ain't involved."

He looked at her for a long moment, she seemed wise for her age and she was sweet but that wouldn't ever make him trust someone. Yet for some reason he felt compelled to tell her everything.

"Samantha," he said softly,"Her name is Samantha." He realized he had never called her that before, it was always Carter and on rare occasions, very rare, Sam. He liked it, Samantha, he liked the way it rolled off his tongue, liked the way it fit her.

She searched his face for a moment, he looked at her, this stranger that he was trusting for no apparent reason."She is the woman traveling with you?" He nodded slowly, not looking away from her face, "She's pretty," Nanna said.

"Yes, she is," he said slowly, breaking eye contact and leaning his head back against the wall, closing his eyes, of course he knew that she was pretty. Always had, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"She loves you," Jack looked back at her, his eyes wide. He searched her face but he could tell she was being sincere. She honestly believed that Sam loved him. If only that were true.

"No," he scowled as he shook his head sadly, "Not me. She loves... someone else."

"No, she loves you," she stated as if it were fact.

"And how would you know that?" he asked bitterly, she didn't know, she hadn't heard what he had heard back at base.

"Because," she said simply.

He looked at her incredulously, "Because? Thats the best you can give me?"

"No girl looks at any man the way she looks at you, or for that matter _kisses _any man the way she just kissed you unless he's the one she loves," she said slowly as if speaking to a small child.

He gaped at her for a moment, he wanted _so _badly to believe her yet he knew she was wrong, "Well let me ask you something, if she loves me, as you say she does, then why is she dating someone else?"

She shrugged, "Her reasons are her own, but trust me on this, she loves you."

Trust her. Why should he trust this woman he doesn't know? Why should he believe her? He had no proof that she was telling the truth, in fact he knew that she was wrong. And yet... and yet.

His radio cackled to life startling him out of his thoughts, "O'Neill," Teal'c's deep voice called. He looked at it stunned, he had almost forgotten where he was.

He pressed the button, "Yeah?"

"We are going to meet with the council, it was requested that you return," Teal'c answered.

"Alright," Jack said sighing. He turned back to Nanna, "I've got to go," he said getting up and turning away but she caught his hand in hers.

He turned back to her, question in his eyes, "You never told me _your_ name," she said smiling.

"Jack, my name's Jack," he said.

"Well _Jack_, she loves you, just remember that," she patted his hand and then let him go.

He nodded his head slowly once and then went to leave again. He turned back again and said,"Thanks," but she was gone.

* * *

She didn't know how long she had been standing there with her hand on her lips staring at the entrance to the alleyway he had gone into. Why would he walk away? Why would he do this to her? She was hurt and stunned and upset. Did he really not love her? Her eyes were stinging and she was fighting as hard as she could not to let those tears fall. She didn't care about the whispers of the towns people or the looks she was getting she just stood and stared.

She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder, putting the hand that was on her lips to the hand that had just touched her.

She turned to look at him, Daniel. He looked at her concern flooding his eyes, "You okay?" he asked softly.

Okay? After that could she be okay? She had trusted him, put every feeling that she had into that kiss and he walked away. She fought harder against the tears forming in the corner of her eye. She thought about saying stupid question and then breaking down into tears, but she couldn't do that, wouldn't do that. She took in a shaky breath, "Yeah, I'm fine," she said trying to sound like her normal self.

He put his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him, "No, you're not," he said slowly. She bit her lip and looked into her best friends eyes.

Swallowing hard, she nodded her head slowly,"No, I'm not," she whispered.

He studied her for a moment and then said, "Come 'ere," pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him because just for this moment she needed that comfort. That sort of comfort only a best friend can give. She never really appreciated how lucky she was to have Daniel. He ran his fingers through her short hair while she tried not to cry. "Come on, cheer up, it's almost your big day!" he whispered so that only she could hear. She couldn't help but let out a watery giggle at his reminder of her birthday.

She pulled away and gave him a weak smile, "Thanks Daniel," he nodded once and his hand finding hers. He led her through town until they found Corin again. He squeezed her hand before letting it go and talking to Corin. That's right, it's almost her birthday, she should be happy, and yet all she could think about was her CO. She walked along behind Daniel and Corin in this place that almost mirrored earth in looks, aside from the pinkness, not really listening as they set up a meeting with the council of the town.

Her thoughts swirled around in her head, his mask fading away, his lips on hers, his hand on her neck, the sight of him walking away. She thought about what had been bothering him before and how he had let her see everything. Why would he do that if he didn't love her too? But if he did why would he walk away? She stood there drowning in her thoughts, in the background she heard Teal'c calling Jack... _her CO_ back to where they were but her thoughts kept screaming inside her head. She wished for the first time in her life that she could just stop thinking, she wished and wished but the thoughts just kept coming.

* * *

He didn't really remember what was talked about at the meeting or even what this planet was called, he remembered that there were about a dozen people at that meeting. He remembered that they were all wearing pink and remembered Daniel talking to them. He remembered being offered to stay the night in some hotel-like place in town and Daniel accepting. And he definitely remembered the blonde scientist who had been avoiding his eyes all day.

'At least I got her to stop asking if I was okay,' he thought bitterly. He glanced at her again, she was staring decidedly ahead as they walked through town. They were going to some town hall to have dinner before they went to bed for the night. He wondered what she was thinking about, what she had planned to do after she kissed him if he hadn't walked away. Would she have forgotten Daniel and chosen him? He remembered Nanna's words, w_ell Jack, she loves you, just remember that._

He sighed as he ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, he hated remembering things.

* * *

Sam sat in the chair Corin had pulled out for her and watched as many plates were brought out for them. Apparently the inhabitants of this planet had prepared a feast, it looked delicious, plenty of regular looking foods, well regular aside from the pinkness of the garnishes and the plates, nothing like the disturbing things she had seen on other planets.

"A toast," Corin said at the head of the table, she lifted her glass along with the rest of the people in the room, "to our new comers, that truth and love will guide us together to an alliance that can be useful to both planets."

There was clinking all throughout the room as people brought their glasses together. Their pink glasses. Sam was starting to get really sick of the color, she had thought it had been cool at first but now all she thought about where ever she looked was Valentines day and that was not a good way to go when trying to avoid thoughts of kissing someone you shouldn't have, someone who wouldn't want you, couldn't want you, _didn't_ want you.

Sam hardly touched her food, moving it around on her plate. She had been avoiding his eyes all day since that kiss. She still hadn't decided if that was a mistake, and she still hadn't figured out why he walked away, still hadn't figured out what was bothering him in the first place. There was so much uknown to her about him at this moment. _That truth and love will guide us together..._ what she wouldn't give for some truth right now, and a little love wouldn't hurt either.

She felt a hand on her knee and looked to see that it belonged to Daniel. He was looking at her in a way that she deemed uniquely Daniel. His head was cocked to the side and his mouth was slightly parted as he studied her, "I'm fine," she mouthed. He nodded once not letting go of her knee just watching her. She smiled and took his hand, Daniel loved her and she loved Daniel, just not in the same way that she loved Jack. She squeezed his hand but didn't let go, she didn't want to feel alone just yet.

* * *

Jack gagged as he saw Daniel and Sam holding hands and had to cover it up, pretending was a cough when he recieved some odd looks. Why were they doing this to him? Was this some sort of a game to them? He scowled down at his food, he hadn't been eating much but now he had just lost his appetite.

He pushed his plate away and sat back, waiting for everyone else to finish, trying his hardest not to look at the blonde across from him. After a little while Corin stood, "Now if you please follow me, I will take you to the hotel where you will be staying tonight."

Jack stood and followed the old man out of the room pretending not to notice how Sam...Carter and Daniel didn't release eachothers hands, they walked for a few blocks before coming up on a large building. A large pink building. "Your stay here will be paid for by the town, please enjoy yourselves," Corin said, begining to walk away. Then he stopped and turned around, "Major Carter, if I may have a word?" he asked.

"Uh... sure," came her distracted answer, she smiled at Daniel and then released his hand before following Corin over to a quieter part of the hotel. He tried to keep his mind focused on checking in as the woman behind the counter gave him his card key. She smiled at him and then moved on to help Daniel and Teal'c. He sighed and headed for the elevators he checked his key for the floor number as he got in, floor 3 room 17. He sighed, this was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Major Carter," Corin started but she interupted.

"Sam, call me Sam," he smiled at her. She didn't know why but she found herself trusting this old man she barely knew. It was like he was some old friend or family member, and even though she knew he wasn't she found herself treating him as she would any friend. She was feeling much better now, she really was. Daniel always knew what to do when it came to making her feel better, that was one of the things she loved about him.

"Very well, Sam. I feel as though I made you uncomfortable today," she looked at him oddly. What had he done? He smiled softly, "If you remember I was the one who told you of our traditions," he reminded her, her mouth formed a perfect O, saying she understood, "And for that I wish to apologize."

She smiled at him softly, "It's alright Corin, you didn't mean any harm," she said, putting her hand on his arm.

"Of course not! I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," he said, she looked him over, Corin was a sweet, sweet man.

"Thanks Corin, but I'm fine," she said.

He led her back to the desk saying goodnight before leaving. She watched the old man go, his pink robes trailing behind him. Once he was gone she turned back around but there was no one behind the counter. She rang the little bell on the surface in front of her and in a minute someone came out of a swinging door and smiled at her. Sam looked at the dark-skinned woman in all pink behind the counter, "You are one of the travelers?" she asked.

"Yes," Sam answered, "I need a room."

"Of course," said the woman sweetly, after a minute of pressing buttons the woman handed her a key card. "Here you go Samantha, enjoy your stay," the woman said smiling. There was something about that smile, it was almost knowing.

"Thank you... uh," she said searching for a name.

"Nanna," said the woman simply.

"Thank you Nanna," Sam said walking towards the elevators, she was so preoccupied going over the days events that she hadn't even stopped to ask how the girl had known her name.

She tried to sort out her thoughts with a clearer head as she rode up in the elevator. She checked her card key for the room number as she climbed out of the elevator on floor 3, room number 17. 1...2...3... she didn't know what was going on with him... 4...5...6... she thought about that kiss, about how he felt for her, she never had expected him to like her, to love her, she was nothing special after all... 7...8...9...10... she still didn't know what was bothering him from before, didn't know why he was so upset...11...12...13... all she knew was that she _was _going to get to the bottom of this, she would figure out how he felt, and why and if he cared for her at all. She would because she had to, it was as simple as that...14....15...16...17.

* * *

He climbed out of the shower, drying off and wrapping the pinkest towel he had ever used around his waist, he was trying not to think about anything in particular but it seemed no matter what his thoughts always turned to her. He walked back into the bedroom, searching for his clothes when he heard the door click open behind him.

He spun around, "Sir!" he recognized her voice before he saw her.

"Carter!" he gasped out, tightening his hold on the towel around his waist.

Crap.

* * *

A/N: hi, okay well that was not at all what i had expected it to be. i realize that throughout the story i have referenced to Daniel as completely oblivious, but i just wanted to put it out there that i don't actually think that. I think he's just not a people person and if he really looked he would understand anything about his friends in the blink of an eye which is sorta what happened here, so yeah, just putting that out there.

again please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, I'm SOOO sorry for the extreme delay in this chapter.

Life has been so hectic lately, i'm hoping I'll be able to get another chapter out soon. I have it all planned out in my head, but you know the cliche... the best laid plans...

But first, here's this one. Enjoy...

* * *

Her jaw dropped as the open door revealed a half naked man in a pink fluffy towel. He had frozen when he had heard the door click, his muscles tensing and sending a ripple across his bare back, she recognized him instantly, "Sir!" she stammered. Damn, he was _not _bad looking.

He spun around, "Carter!" he yelped, he was just as shocked as she was, as he tightened his grip on the towel that was hanging low on his waist against her wishes. The door clicked shut behind her and she was trapped. She was fighting two impulses, the first, the one she knew she should follow was to look away from him and his beautiful, mostly naked body. The other, much stronger impulse was to jump him where he stood. She stood frozen there, her jaw nearly hitting the floor as she imprinted the sight to her memory. He had a perfect six-pack she noted with way to much pleasure, watching his chest muscles tense and relax. The fluffy pink towel, which otherwise would have been very entertaining to her, still hung low on his waist. And there was a annoyingly sexy line of mostly grey hair leading down from his navel to... she fought to look away, she really did, but that was a lot easier said then done.

He gaped at her, the shock at her being there, in his room, while he was wearing nothing but a towel overwhelming him. Finally she spun around, tearing her eyes away from her CO's chest and staring at the door. The whole scene probably lasted a few seconds but he definitely would have noticed her hesitation to turn around.

"I'm sorry, Sir..." she started, "I guess they gave me the wrong room number, I'll just go back down and ask for another room and then... Jeez, I'm _so _sorry Sir," she said all in one breath, moving her hands around rapidly as she spoke. She knew she was rambling, but she couldn't stop, seeing her CO, whom admittedly she was more attracted to than she should be, wearing _very_ little just a few hours after she had kissed him was sort of befuddling.

"Carter!" he shouted, interupting her long string of apologies, "Um... it's okay, just... um... just give me a sec to get dressed and we'll go down and get this problem fixed together."

"Yes, sir," was all she could say, she opened the door and exited the room giving him his privacy, or what little he had left. She leaned against the wall, could anything _else_ possibly go wrong on this mission!

* * *

His mind was racing at a thousand miles per minute. 'Carter... room... towel.... kiss.... Carter here... me not dressed... Carter... Daniel... Carter... Me... Sam.'

He absently gathered his clothes and got dressed again as his thoughts started to make sense. He would go down with Carter and calmy explain the mistake, she would get another room, end of story. 'There, thats not a crisis, now is it Jack,' his inner voice said to him.

He wasn't really bothered by the fact that she had seen him practically naked, because honestly... they shared a locker room. What bothered him was the fact that there was a moment, just a short split-second moment, where he had wanted to grab her and kiss the living-daylights out of her. He sighed as he pulled his shirt over his head.

What kind of game was she playing anyway? Kissing him, then holding hands with Daniel, showing up to his room while he's half-naked while shes dating Daniel. 'Now Jack be fair, this wasn't her fault,' his inner voice intervened again.

'You're right,' Jack thought to himself, 'this is some higher being hell bent on torturing me in the most hideous way possible.'

He sighed again as he opened the door, finding Sam leaning against the wall. He tried to forget all the bitterness and resentment and erm... attraction he felt towards her right now and just be himself, just for this while, but it wasn't working out to well. He stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching her. He could tell she was deep in thought, her brows were furrowed together in concentration and her lips kept moving though no sound escaped them. Her blonde hair fell into eyes in a careless sort of way, and he had to fight a strong urge to brush the hair away and tell her how beautiful she was. He didn't know what he wanted from her right now, whether he wanted her to go away and never speak to him again or wanted to pull her back into the room and kiss her senseless, she was a frustrating miracle to him.

"Ready to go?" he asked her as the door clicked shut behind him.

She looked up at him, apparently she hadn't noticed when he left the room, "Uh... sure," she said, pushing off the wall and falling into step with her CO.

The short elevator ride was quiet and akward, he didn't know what to say to break the silence. He just kept focusing on anything but her, refusing to even look at her. He felt childish but he supposed he had a right to be, she was confusing the hell out of him and he wished she would just come right out and tell him everything so they could stop dancing around eachother, but that would just be too simple wouldn't it.

* * *

The silence between them was almost palpable. This had never been so hard before, they could always talk without really saying anything. She sighed as they stepped out of the elevator, the image of his half naked body kept flashing through her mind and it made it hard to focus on anything, including breathing. 'Breathe, blink, step. Breathe, blink, step,' she thought about each as she did it.

They walked up to the counter and looked around, "Hello?" Jack...erm... the Colonel said. "Anybody home?" he said as he rang the old fashioned bell on the counter top.

A girl walked out, not the same girl from before... what was her name? Oh, yeah... Nanna. The girl swiped blonde hair off her forehead and walked up to them, "Can I help you?" she asked with mock-sweetness.

"Uh...yeah. We uh... accidentally got booked to the same room," he said, gesturing between them but refusing to look at her. "So if you could give one of us a different room that would be great." She wondered if he was as frazzled as she was at the moment, his usual sarcastic self didn't seem to be here, he was just... normal. Which made her worried, very worried indeed.

"Alright," she said in the same sugary-sweet tone as before. She went to the computer, or something that looked like a computer, and typed in a few things. Sam impatiently tapped her fingers on the marble top of the counter. "I'm sorry, we don't seem to have any other rooms available."

Sam's eyes widened, "So... what are we supposed to do?" she asked.

"I'm sorry but theres nothing I can do," said the girl.

'Fantastic,' Sam thought sarcastically, 'I'm going to have to spend a whole night. In bed. With my annoyingly attractive CO. That I just kissed. That's just _great._'

The colonel sighed, "Alright." he said through clenched teeth, "Good night."

He spun away from the counter and walked back to the elevator, Sam following in close step behind him. Great, what were they going to do now?

* * *

He impatiently hit the button on the elevator, of course they didn't have any other rooms, the universe was conspiring against him. "Ja-Sir," she said quietly and his eyes widened at her slip, "What are we going to do?"

"_You're_ going to go to the room, _I'm_ going to try something," he said, sounding more forceful than he had meant to. He had a plan. He did.

She seemed taken aback but she nodded slowly, "Yes sir."

When the elevator opened up he let her out, he watched her walk away without looking back as the elevator doors closed. He hit the button for the fourth floor because Daniel's room was on the fourth floor, floor four room five. As soon as the doors opened he rushed out until he found the room that Daniel had gotten. He knocked impatiently on the door, "Uh... Who is it?" Daniel's voice sounded, muffled by the door.

"Daniel! It's me! Open the door!" he shouted impatiently.

"Give me a sec!" Daniel shouted. The door opened, revealing a shirtless, sleep-worn Daniel. "What?" Daniel whined, sounding very much like an over tired teenager.

"Switch rooms with me," Jack ordered.

Daniel's eyes widened, "What? Why?"

"Carter and I got booked in the same room and there are no other rooms availabe," he explained quickly as Daniel's eyebrows rose, "Switch rooms with me," Jack repeated.

Daniel looked like he was in deep thought then a smile lit up his young face, "No," he said simply.

"What?" Jack half-shouted.

"No. I won't switch rooms with you Jack," Daniel said.

What the hell? 'She's _your _girlfriend!' Jack thought. This was so unfair, both of them were playing some sick, sick game. Jack laid his head against the door frame, "Why are you doing this to me Daniel?" he whined.

"Because," Daniel said, "you two have some issues to work out. You both need to talk about whatever it is that's got you into this bad mood and tonight would be a perfect time for you to do it." Jack raised his head up, opening his mouth to protest, "Don't even try to fight me on this Jack, you two have been acting odd all day since she kissed you. And nothing _I _say is going to fix this, this is between you and Sam. Work it out," Daniel said throwing his hands around in the air as he spoke.

"But," Jack said.

"Work it out." Daniel repeated and letting the door swing shut and leaving Jack standing in the hallway gaping at the pink door in front of him.

* * *

Sam climbed into the steamy shower and wondered. She wondered what his great idea was. She wondered what he was thinking right now. She wondered why he had been acting odd before she kissed him. She wondered why he had walked away. She wondered what his feelings toward her were. She wondered what she had done to deserve this hell.

He was so frustrating, couldn't he just tell her what was going on? Ugh, her thoughts became jumbled as she stepped away from the warm water and pulled the pink towel off of the rack and tied it around her body. She felt goosebumps prickle on her skin as she walked back into the room to find her clothes, as she shivered in the seemingly cold air, she decided to stop wondering, because no matter how much she wondered, she still had no answers.

* * *

He stormed back into the room without thinking and the first sight he saw was an angel. Okay... Carter, but for a second he thought it was an angel. Her bare back covered with goosebumps was a welcoming sight and he had to restrain himself from trying to warm her up. Which admittedly was not an easy ask. Then he saw the pink towel, his eyes traveled down to see the bare legs and back up before he gasped, "Jesus, Carter!"

He stared for a second more as she turned to face him, he spun around to avoid being caught, 'Note to self: establish knocking system.'

"Sir!" she yelped pulling the towel closer around her body.

"Um..." he started,"I'll...um... I'll wait outside while you... uh... yeah..." he said. 'Damn, she shows a _little_ skin and shes got me all confused,' he thought.

He threw open the door and stepped outside, he slid down to the floor against the wall and burried his head in his hands trying to stop the image of his angel from flashing across mind.

"Well this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I booked her in the same room as you," he heard a rather feminine voice say.

He looked up, Nanna. "You? You did this?" he said.

"Yes, I did," she replied unashamedly, "I didn't expect you to be sitting outside right now though."

He glared at her, "Can _you _transfer my room? Or hers?" When she gave him a look he continued, "Nothing would be happening tonight anyways."

"Is that right?" she said, sliding down next to him.

"Yes thats right," he grumbled, regardless of what he wanted she was dating Daniel. Oh and not to mention military regulations didn't really support his train of thought.

"Well," she said, "there was nothing I could have done anyways, all other rooms really were booked. I just... shifted the cards in your favor."

He continued to glare at her, "So what am I supposed to do now?" he asked her.

She looked at him, "What you do know is up to you, but don't screw up Jack. Don't screw up."

"Gee, thanks a lot," he said sarcastically.

"Your welcome," she said with a knowing smile as she patted his knee, "Now go get her, Jack."

With that she stood and left him in the hallway, he shook his head as he watched her go, "Hey," he heard another feminine voice from the other side of him. He turned to look at her, his angel... erm... lets just pretend he didn't just call her that, "I'm all done changing, you can come back now," her voice was soft as she spoke and he found himself drawn to it.

He stood up without speaking and followed her in. He was silent for a moment just looking around the room, 'Why on earth... or erm... not earth, did everything have to be pink?' he thought. "I'm," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for um... walking in on you earlier."

She blushed a little but shrugged, "I guess we're even now," she said with a small smile on her face.

He smiled a little, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

She climbed onto the bed, pulling the covers back and he had to look away, he had to admit that it was very hard to keep his mind away from rather... tempting scenarios at the moment.

"So how did it go?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, thoroughly confused.

"You... uh... you said you were going to try something?" she said.

"Oh," he sighed, "yeah... that didn't go as planned," he said, and she giggled. Oh that giggle. She shouldn't giggle. It made him think of things he shouldn't. She cocked her head towards him, and he looked at her. She looked so sweet, so... beautiful, damn _why_ did she have to be beautiful. Nanna's words rang through his mind then, _'don't screw up Jack. Don't screw up._' He wished then that there was a instruction manual for this, how was he supposed to fix this, how could he not screw up? He sighed and grabbed a pillow off the bed, laying it on the floor, then grabbing the top blanket he laid himself down on the cold floor next to the bed. A few seconds later her face appeared above his, "Sir, what are you doing?"

"Sleeping, Carter," he replied, she rolled her eyes at him.

"I mean what are you doing on the floor?" she clarified.

"I'm trying to be a gentleman," he answered.

Her eybrows rose, "Um... That seems kind of stupid."

His eyebrows mimicked hers, "Stupid?"

"Well, what I mean is... Why sleep on a cold, hard floor when you could just as easily be in nice, warm bed?" she said.

'Just as easily?' he thought bitterly. He continued to stare at her, "Come on Sir, its not like we're breaking any regulations just sleeping in the same bed."

'Yes but I'm sure your _boyfriend_ won't be pleased,' he thought, then again... Daniel had pretty much forced him into this situation. "Fine," he said throwing her the blanket and then laying the pillow back on to the bed.

* * *

Sam was pleased he had agreed. Not for the reasons one would think though, she really was just concerned for his well being, sleeping on the floor for a whole night is not fun. Okay well maybe she wasn't _just_ concerned for his well being but it was a major factor.

So much had happened today that her head was still spining from it all, it would be nice to sleep for a while. She flicked the switch on the lamp next to her, sending the room into darkness, she snuggled under the covers and let her head the pillow, she felt it when he climbed into the bed and heard the rustle of sheets as he moved around to get comfortable.

"Good night Sir," she whipsered into her pillow.

"Sweet dreams Carter, sweet dreams," he said quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi there. I apologize for the agonizingly long wait between chapters here. I always hated the people who did that and now im one of them.**

**Three cheers for hypocracy!**

**Anyway, i have nothing to blame but severe writers block. This was the chapter I had been dreading to write since I first planned this story out because i just had no clue what I was going to do with them in this chapter.**

**So I'm sorry, but its not my fault, honest!**

**There should be one more chapter after this one and I hope to get that up soon but midterms are next week so no promises.**

**Please read and review, they actually do make me write faster =)**

* * *

"Mhm," he mumbled incoherantly as he moved closer to the warm body currently fitted against his.

Her back curved against his stomach as she moaned in those moments between sleep and waking. His arm wrapped around her, his hand against her stomach, holding her closer. Her blonde hair tickled his cheek as he settled his chin against her neck. His lips pressed against the curve of her neck and she groaned again in pleasure.

She mumbled incoherently as she rolled over, fitting against his body and resting her head on his chest. Their arms unconscouisly wrapped around each other in an almost hug, his fingertips crawling down her back and sending pleasant feelings coursing through her regardless of the fabric between her skin and his. He could feel her warm breath through his t-shirt as she sighed contentedly.

The first thought he had was that whatever, or more appropriately whomever, he was holding felt very right in his arms. The hands of 'whomever' it was that he was holding slid down lower, unknowingly hitting a rather...sensitive spot and causing him to come away from his pleasant dreamland. The second thought was that this something shouldn't feel right. 'Oh, shit, this is Carter!' he thought as he came fully awake and his sleep-grogy brain pieced everything together.

"Carter!" he cried as he rolled away from her very comfortable, very... beautiful body. He rolled so quickly he fell off the bed and landed with a thump on the floor.

"Sir!" she called, now completely awake, she rolled over to the edge of the bed and looked down at him.

* * *

He sat up quickly, "I'm okay," he said.

She almsot giggled, he did look quite disheveled like that and it was almost... cute. But she couldn't shake the feelings she had experienced just moments ago when he had held her like she had always wanted him too. It had felt right, too right, almost perfect.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair that the man she just had to go and fall in love with was not in love with her. She figured she might as well admit that she loved him to her self at this point, if no one else.

She sighed, offering her hand to pull him up, he accepted it but as soon as he was up he pulled his hand away quickly and she frowned at the sudden loss of contact.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but he stopped and his lips closed again, "Sir?" she quesitoned.

"Uh..." the man of many words began, just then there was a loud knock at the door, "Um, I'll get that."

He walked to the door and opened it to reveal Daniel, Teal'c, and Corin waiting outside. "Hey," Daniel said through a yawn.

"Give us a sec," the Colonel replied. They quickly gathered their gear and followed the three men out. As they rode down in the elevator she couldn't help but wonder at what he was going to say before the knock.

* * *

Daniel looked at him expectantly as they walked down the pink hallways and he shook his head sadly. They hadn't talked, not about the kiss, not about _them_ or Daniel, not about anything. They hadn't "worked it out" as Daniel had so eloquently put it. Daniel gave him a look that read 'You idiot,' and he sighed.

He didn't like how wonderful touching her had felt, it made him feel... feelings and he hated himself for it.

Because even though there were the regs. Even though there was Daniel. When he held her like that, he had felt this ridiculous shred of hope, of happiness... stupid feelings.

The day passed by seemingly too quickly, he knew that Daniel was negotiating. That Teal'c was standing stoically nearby. But he definitely did _not _take notice of his second. He didn't even know she was there most of the day. Honest.

He didn't feel the almost electric air everytime they got a little bit closer. He didn't notice how Daniel laid a "reassuring" hand on her thigh during lunch. Or how she had been staying away from him all day.

Really.

* * *

For Sam the day passed in a blur of negotiations, meals of the finest local cuisine, (though she could've sworn that that last one was pizza), and thoughts of one nameless commanding officer.

No, thats not true. She didn't think about him once. Not about how her stomach fluttered when she felt his lips against her neck when she woke up in his arms, not about how his lips had felt against hers the day before. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

And don't even get her started on how much she _didn't_ think about seeing him in that pink fluffy towel and how his chest... nope, didn't think about it at all.

Daniel had noticed. She didn't know what he had noticed, but he had noticed and she was glad for it. There was something about the way he could just smile at her or put his hand on her leg and she would feel a weight lift, and for a moment she would be okay again. But then all those things that she wasn't thinking about would come back.

She stepped out of the elevator and began to slowly walk to her room... ehem.... _their_ room. Yeah, you heard right, there are still _no _other rooms available. And for some odd reason Daniel _and _Teal'c refused to switch rooms with either of them. Ja... The colonel seemed rather annoyed with them for it but they held their ground.

"Hey, Jack," she heard Daniel call behind her, as he too stepped out of the elevator, "Can I, uh... talk to you for a minute?"

She heard his grunt of admission but forced herself not to look back and to just keep walking towards the bright pink door. And as she walked she heard the poignant silence of the things they didn't want her to hear.

* * *

He watched as Daniel's eyes followed her progress down the hall, waiting for the click of the door before either spoke. She walked with a determined step. Step, step, step, _click_.

"You _idiot!_" Daniel said immeadiately after the sound reached their ears.

"What?" Jack turned back to face Daniel.

"What the hell did you say to her?" he asked, his electric blue eyes staring accusingly into his brown ones.

"I didn't say anything to her!" he exclaimed defensively.

"Well you must've said something wrong! Or done something wrong! Not that I'm surprised, this is you after all," he accused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked incredulously, his voice rising.

"I think you know what it's supposed to mean," he spat his voice rising to match Jack's.

"No, Daniel! Why don't you tell me?" he pushed.

"You... Arghh, this is not what I wanted to talk to you about," Daniel said, becoming sensible again.

"Then what did you want to talk about," he said, not shouting anymore but speaking with a bitterness in his voice.

"I want to know what you said to her to make her so..." he gestured with his hands to describe the unsaid feeling.

Jack sighed, "Honest Daniel, I really said _nothing_ to her. We didn't talk about anything. Well, we were going to when you," he poked Daniel's chest though not aggressively,"showed up."

"You guys had all night and you waited til _then _to talk to her!" he said a bit of the accusing tone seeping back into his voice.

"Daniel," Jack warned before this escalated.

He took a deep breath, "Sorry, sorry," he said, he leaned over and pressed the elevator button, "Just... talk to her tonight. Fix this."

"How?" Jack asked imploringly.

Daniel looked at him with almost pitying eyes, "I don't know Jack, but like I said, this is between you and Sam. For all you know this could all be one big misunderstanding. Work it out, Jack." The elevator doors opened and Daniel stepped in, he turned back to face him as the doors began to close again, "Just don't screw up Jack."

Why did everyone keep telling him that? He watched the doors close and Daniel faded away, "And how would I do that?" he asked the empty air.

"You talk to her," a female voice said. Jack nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around, pointing his P-90 at the voice of the intruder.

"Nanna," he breathed, lowering his gun, "Don't do that!"

She giggled, "Boo," she threw her hands at him as though trying to scare him.

He quirked her a smile and then frowned again, "What do I do?" he asked her, begged her.

"You do just what I said, you talk to her," he looked at her incredulously, wondering if it could really be that simple. She smiled at him, she walked up behind him and gripped his shoulders, pushing him towards the room, "And don't forget what I told you before," she said as they reached the door.

"And whats that?" he asked, staring at the door with apprehension.

"She loves you," Nanna whispered against his ear, her bushy, brown hair tickling his cheek. She let go of his shoulders and knocked on the door for him and within seconds she was skipping away.

"Come in!" he heard Carter's voice muffled up to the door.

* * *

Sam decided to shower while Daniel talked to him. She climbed into the steaming water and let it run down her back for a moment, her skin adjusting to the temperature change. What would happen tonight, the tension between them was building, she knew it. It was only a matter of time until something pushed her too far and she would break. But what would that lead too? Her eyes closed as she imagined the gloomy possibilities. She climbed out of the warm water, done with her shower and began to dry off.

What the hell kind of game was he playing anyway? Was he toying with her? She rubbed the towel through her wet hair, now fully dressed, and wondered what Daniel and Jack were talking about.

Just then there was a knock. "Come in!" she called. The door opened to reveal her CO.

He walked in wordlessly and seemed lost in his thoughts. "Showers free," she said, slightly confused by his almost dazed behavior. He nodded without really looking at her and walked into the bathroom. She heard the water begin to run and so she climbed into the bed, snuggling against the covers, inhaling the lavender smell in the sheets and became lost in her thoughts.

* * *

He climbed into the shower, '_talk to her,'_ Nanna said, '_fix this,' _Daniel said... How?

How did he fix this? He couldn't. Not without telling her everything, not without telling her how he felt. Feelings and Jack O'Neill just don't mix well, like oil and water, they don't go together.

"Ow," he said as he felt a stinging on his hand. He looked down and saw the scabs that had formed from his little incident with the lockers. He sighed, why was this his fault? Why isn't she taking any of the fall for the shitty-ness of this situation? Yeah, why him? This was her fault. They had had a balance, or something like a balance until she went and had to go fall for Daniel.

He felt the anger and frustration he had experienced while talking to Daniel bubble up in his chest. He should be angry with her, she was messing with him, it's his fault. He stepped away from the rushing water and dressed again, his thoughts speeding around in his head in an angry whirl.

* * *

She heard the door click open and knew that he had come back into the room but forced herself not to move. She heard him walk around the bed and waited for the sounds of him sliding into the bed next to her but those sounds never came, instead she heard an "Opfh," as he slid to the ground.

She sat up and leaned across the bed, looking down at him much as she had the day before, "Sir?"

He looked up at her, his eyes flashing with something she couldn't identify, "Carter?" he asked bitingly.

She was taken aback by his tone but continued anyway, "I thought we agreed you'd sleep on the bed instead of on the floor..."

"Well, we don't want any repeats of last night do we?"

She bit her lip but even still a mumbled, "Why not?" escaped her lips.

If she was looking for a trigger, she'd found it, "Why not? _Why not?"_ he bolted upright, standing threateningly over her. "There's a million reasons why."

"Oh?" she questioned, feeling her anger rising to match his, "Well _sir,"_she said with contempt, "What are these reasons?"

"There's the regs," he said, but at the moment, this rule that had been blocking their happiness for so long seemed almost unimportant, "And we would'nt want your _boyfriend_ to get jealous now would we?" he spat at her.

Boyfriend?

What the hell?


	7. Chapter 7

"Boyfriend? Boyfriend!" she looked shocked, but even more obvious was the anger rising in her as her face heated and her fists clenched. "With all due respect, _sir,_" she said, her tone way past insubordination, "what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

He hadn't wanted to do this, to get into this fight with her. He had wanted to be the good friend, the detached commanding officer. 'So much for that,' he thought.

"Don't play dumb Carter! It doesn't suit you!" he replied in equal anger and frustration. How could she do this to him? To Daniel? How could she pretend she doesn't know what he was talking about like she is? Her fake ignorance was baiting him.

She jumped off the bed and stood in front of him, "I'm not playing anything!" she shouted, "What boyfriend are you talking about 'cause I'd sure like to meet him!"

"Stop it! I know okay! I saw you two talking, I saw you kiss him!" he retaliated, he was more furious than he had ever been with her. He couldn't remember feeling this angry in a long time. Who was she to think she could mess with him like this?

"You know _what_? Kiss _who!"_ she screamed at him. 'Oh, that's right, just keep pretending. Don't make me say it, Carter. Don't make me say his name,' he thought heatedly.

"And then you went and kissed me even though you clearly love _him_!" Jack continued to mutter angrily about her and what she had done behind her boyfriend's back.

* * *

"Who? Who are you talking about?" she screeched as tears stung in her eyes. What the hell was he doing? Who could he possibly be talking about? If she had a boyfriend it was news to her, she gnashed her teeth together to keep in all the horrible names she wanted to call him right now. All things aside, regardless of her feelings of absolute loathing and love for the man, he was still her commanding officer.

"_Daniel!"_ he shouted, his eyes flashed as he threw his arms into the air in pure frustration. Her jaw dropped and for a second she just gaped at him in complete shock. But after a moment, after the numb of shock had washed away, she acted without thinking and her hand swiped across his face before she could stop it and she heard with great satisfaction the loud smacking sound and his cry of pain. He nearly stumbled with the force of the blow but managed to stay upright, his hand flying to his cheek which now had a red handprint painted on it.

Her thoughts whirled around in her head, 'Daniel! He thinks I love Daniel! How in the... Where the...' all reasoning flew out the window and she could barely complete her thoughts let alone sentences, but that didn't stop her from tearing him apart.

"How _dare_ you!" she shouted, "Daniel is _not_ my boyfriend!" she screamed.

"How dare _I!_ Stop lying!" he retailated, his hand still nursing his sore cheek.

She started pacing, pinning him with an angry stare, "Daniel has not ever, nor will he ever, be my boyfriend, lover, or anything _other_ than my best friend," she screeched. There was a pause where he seemed to absorb that she actually wasn't lying.

"He's... he's not your boyfriend," he repeated slowly trying to comprehend what she was saying.

"No! You stupid, selfish _bastard!" _She punctuated each word with a violent shove against his chest, until he fell onto the bed, his eyes wide and before she could put up that mental block that was always there, stopping her from saying all she _really _felt, she was shooting a string of insults and curses at him. She stood, looming over him, hurtful words were flying from her mouth at a million miles per minute and her hands moving through the air rapidly, accusingly. "You... you... You ignorant son of a bitch," she shouted, her voice raw and angry as livid sobs ripped through her, "Daniel! You think I'm with Daniel!" she laughed, a hollow sound that made him cringe. She didn't even know what she was saying anymore, she was shouting, screaming, tearing him apart, because he deserved it... he deserved it. "I can't believe you! I really can't believe you! What the hell is wrong with you? Oh wait I know already, don't I? You're a shallow, idiotic jackass who wouldn't understand a feeling if it was staring him right in the face!" he looked as though he was about to say something but she didn't stop, she couldn't stop, "Well let me tell you something _Jack, _I haven't even dated since I met you!" His stunned expression hurt her more than she could say, "And you're one to talk about going behind peoples backs, when you were with Kynthia and Lara and all those other girls!"

She chucked a pillow at his head with as much force as she could muster, he threw up his hands to block it, "Hey! That's not fair!" he shouted, about to explain himself, he stood.

"Shut up!" she shouted, she didn't want to hear it, "Just shut up!" She threw a punch at him he just narrowly avoided, he caught her arm in his hand and she attempted to throw another punch at him with her left hand but her caught that arm too.

She wanted to hurt him, she wanted to hurt him like he hurt her, she brought her knee up to hit his groin but he blocked her, spinning her around and shoving her onto the bed, pinning her down there. "Carter! Stop!" he cried.

He straddled her waist his legs trapping hers, his hands holding her arms down as she struggled against him, "Get off me!" she screeched as she struggled against his tight grips.

"When you calm down," he shouted.

"Let me go!" she continued to struggle against him, "No! Don't touch me!" she screamed, her tears falling harder, "Get off me! I _hate _you!"

He froze, she hated him. His grip lessened and he rolled off her, his face visibly paler.

She jumped off the bed like it was lava, running out of the room as fast as her legs would allow not looking back, she had to get away from him.

* * *

He simply stared at the door. She _hated_ him. He couldn't seem to comprehend that one little sentence.

She wasn't dating Daniel, she wasn't dating at all, and she hated him.

He didn't know how long he stared at the door, the stupid pink door, it could have been hours or just minutes, but it seemed an eternity.

It was never supposed to go this far. And whatever '_Don't screw up_' meant he thought he had done just that. 'Ugh, way to go O'Neill,' he thought to himself.

He had to go talk to her. He had to tell her... he didn't know what he had to tell her but he just _had _to talk to her.

Don't ask him why... he couldn't tell you if he tried. He got up and walked out of the room to the one place he knew she would be.

* * *

She didn't know what she was doing until she knocked frantically on the door, on Daniel's door.

"Who's there?" a sleep worn Daniel chimed.

"It's me," she said, her voice raw.

He knew something was wrong, he could hear the hysterics in her voice, the door opened quickly, "Sam?" he asked, his eyes widening upon seeing her.

"Daniel," she sobbed. His eyes roved over her and he tugged her inside, letting the door close behind them.

"What happened?" he asked, holding her shaking hands in his.

"Jack..." she started but her words were unintellegible as she continued to cry.

"Shhh, it's okay," he pulled her to him, her face buried in the crook of his neck as she cried. He hugged her close, his fingers running through her hair as he tried to calm her, "Shh, you're okay."

Finally, her breathing evened, he pulled away from the hug, ignoring the fact that his t-shirt was soaked through. His eyes searched hers as he led her to the bed so they could sit, "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked quietly, brushing the tears off her cheeks with his thumb.

She explained, she told him everything, about what Jack had thought was going on between them, about how she had screamed at him, about what she had thought of when she looked at that flower that they had kissed under, about everything she had felt over the past two days. Daniel listened, saying nothing, but she could tell he was getting angrier and angrier with Jack as she spoke.

"What made him think we were... together?" he asked, his voice soft and caring.

"I don't know... I," there was a knock at the door. They both turned to look at it, shocked at the intruding sound.

"It's me!" Jack's voice sounded, muffled by the door. Daniel watched as Sam stiffened, she shook her head no, wiping at her eyes.

"Go away, Jack!" he shouted back rudely, hoping Jack would just for once do as he asked.

"Daniel open the damn door!" Daniel looked to Sam, it was her choice. She knew it was her choice and yet she didn't know what she wanted. Did she want to see him again? Did she want to shoot him on sight? She found that both answers were a yes at the moment but seeing as she lacked a gun she went for the former. Slowly, ever so slowly she nodded and Daniel stood, walking towards the door.

* * *

He only opened it a little, blocking the space there was with his body.

"Hello Jack," Daniel said, his tone cold and nothing like the voice he had used with Sam just moments ago.

Jack noted his soaked through shirt and the gruff coldness to Daniel's tone, knowing in that instant that he had been right, that Sam was here. "Daniel I need to talk to her," he said.

"Oh you do, do you?" he asked, his tone still harsh.

"Yes I do," he begged, "Please, I _have_ to..."

"Don't you think you've done enough!" Daniel interupted.

"No," Sam said, her hand appearing on Daniel's shoulder, "It's okay," she said, "I want to hear what he has to say."

Daniel looked from her face to Jack and back again, and Jack saw the protective side of Daniel in that look, the side of him that would shoot Jack if he hurt Sam anymore than he already had. He wasn't sure if he should be terrified or proud of that side of Daniel, of the side he was sure he had a part in creating, he settled for being decidedly wary of it.

He knew that they were telling each other something, not saying a word, just communicating with looks. She nodded at Daniel, ending their silent conversation. "I'll be right outside," he said and then he stood away letting Jack pass by him into the room. As Jack passed by him, he felt a hand enclose around his arm, he turned to look at Daniel, "_Don't_ screw this up," he said with more menace in his voice than Jack would have thought possible from him.

He had said it just quiet enough that Sam hadn't heard, "I don't plan on it," Jack replied and he felt the hand let go of his arm. The door clicked shut leaving them alone in a room almost identical to their own. He looked around the room, at the dis-sheveled sheets on the bed, at the lamps that gave a slightly pink glow, at the pink floor with an even pinker design, at anything but her.

Crap, what did he say now?

* * *

**A/N:** Okay that's it for now. Sorry that took so long but I just wanted to get this fight as perfect as possible. Hopefully it meets everyone's standards. And sorry for leaving it on another cliff hanger... the next chapter should be the last and I hopefully wont take too long with it.

Please let me know what you thought. Just press that cute little button somewhere under this writing and type away. =D


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Let me start with. I'M SORRY. I'M SOOO SOOO SORRY. That took an annoying amount of time and were I you, I would kill me.

So if you would like to death threat me, I understand completely. I really have no excuses except that school and camp monopolized my time. AND IM SORRY.

Anyway here's the conclusion of the story, the ACTUAL final chapter that I've been saying was coming for a while now. I really hope you like it! It took me a while to write!

PLEASE review to tell me your thoughts, be they thoughts of death or otherwise (hopefully otherwise. But if they are deadly, I thank you for reading anyways).

* * *

She stared blankly at him, still unsure if she hated him or loved him in that moment. She stood, her arms crossing against her chest, watching his eyes wander, decidedly avoiding her, "So? You came here to talk. Talk," It wasn't a request. And oh boy, if he said the wrong things...

"Um..." he said, finally looking at her, "Look... ahh, I'm sorry..." he said, she raised an eyebrow at him, asking what else he had to say. Her face was still red and the tear tracks made by her make up were still obvious, but she held her composure well. A fact that she was really proud of. "I just... I saw you... and _him_... together and you were talking about secrets and how you didn't want me and T' to know and then you..." he stopped and took a breath," then you kissed him. And I assumed..."

She stared at him in disbelief, "That. That's it?" That stupid little secret is what ruined _everything_.

"Well," he started, but she didn't wait for him to finish.

"You got all that because of a tiny little kiss!" she shouted, somehow finding her anger again. He winced.

* * *

"Well that and then you were holding hands and... touching..." he trailed off, it didn't sound nearly as convincing as it had seemed at the time. She was staring at him in complete disbelief and he knew she was going to start screaming at him again, he spoke before her rant could begin, "Well if _that's_ not what the secret was then what is it?" he asked, deflecting away from the topic of his idiocy.

She sat back on the bed, the expression on her face changing from one of anger to one of sheepishness, "That's none of your business," she said, though her voice didn't sound nearly as strong as before.

"Oh, I think it is," he said, laughing a hollow laugh, "Come on, if you're not dating whats the secret?" he asked again.

She took a deep breath and mumbled, "It's about my birthday..."

"Sorry?" he said, his sarcastic bite coming back, "Didn't catch that."

"My birthday!" she said, practically shouting, "It's tomorrow, okay? I didn't want anyone to know, but Daniel found out so I asked him not to tell anyone."

"Wha..." Her birthday. He almost laughed, "Seriously?"

"Yes," she hissed. He couldn't believe it. Everything, all this hurt and confusion was caused by a stupid _misunderstanding._ It was like a bad joke the universe was playing on him. He had blown everything way out of proportion, he sank down onto the bed as well and lost himself in thought.

* * *

"Now you know! Okay!" she let out a quick breath, "So do you have anything else you'd like to say or are you leaving now?" she asked harshly. She didn't know why she had wanted to talk to him. She wished she hadn't, she felt even worse now than she had before. She hated him. She just wanted to be alone.

He pulled himself back to the conversation, "What do you want me to say, Carter?"

She laughed, another haunting sound with no humor, even she didn't know what she wanted him to say, she just wanted things to go back to the way they were before, before he went and screwed everything up, "I don't know, Jack!" she shouted, she didn't even register the use of his first name, "Maybe you could tell me _why_ you did this? Why you assumed I was dating Daniel? Why you had to ruin _everything_?" she asked, trying to be cold, trying to be detached but failing miserably.

"Carter I..." he started, but he didn't know if he even knew why he had done that, done those things.

"Well?" she asked, the impatience in her voice obvious now.

"I don't know!" he shouted, but then his voice lowered, the rushed impatience gone as he calmed, "I don't know, okay? It's... it's just you... you drive me crazy, Carter."

"Oh _I_ drive _you_ crazy!" she shrieked. That _bastard._

"No! No, that's not what I meant," he said, placatingly, putting up his hands as he spoke.

"Well what did you mean?" she asked bitingly, her anger and tears welling up again. She hated him for this, she really did, why did he have to have such control over her? Why is it that _he _was the only one who could make her cry? She continued speaking, her voice rising as her hysterics did, "Did you mean that you go as crazy as_ I_have been, trying to figure out what the hell broke between us? What drove you to the point where you can't even look at me! Where we have to sit there in awkward silence because we don't know what to say to eachother! Where you walk away when I kiss you! Where you assume so easily that I love someone else even though _I love you_!" she bit her lip, finishing with an admission she hadn't planned on.

_Oh. My. God_. Did she really just say that? Did she really just let that slip? She turned away from him and sat on the bed, trying to stop the tears that had started sometime while she was speaking.

* * *

"Carter," he said softly, she _loved_ him. She ignored him, still sitting there sobbing, "Carter," he repeated putting his hand on her shoulder, she _loved _him.

"Get away from me," she cried, ripping her shoulder from his grasp, her sobs getting louder.

He pulled his hand back, "What I meant was..." he paused, thinking of the right words to say as her sobs filled the tense silence, "Whenever I'm around you... I, I go a little insane. Well, more insane," he quipped, hoping to get a reaction out of her, but her cries continued. He hated that sound, her crying... he couldn't stand it because it meant he had hurt her, and he hated that more than he hated anything else in the world. "Because...Carter, look at me," he said but she didn't turn to face him, "_Sam_. Look at me." There was a sharp intake of breath as her name passed his lips, and slowly, ever so slowly, she turned to face him. He brought his hand up brushing her tears away with his thumb. She still refused to look at him, so he brought his hand under her chin and tipped her head up until their eyes finally met and there they were, those shockingly blue eyes, "Because I'm in love with you Sam."

"You... You're what?" she stuttered, her jaw dropping, his thumb traced a line across her cheek, slowly erasing the tear tracks.

"I love you," he said, a small smirk gracing his lips at her shock.

* * *

She didn't understand. How could he love her? How could he say that now? How could he mean it? And why was she believing him?

"No, you can't love me," she mumbled.

"Excuse me?" he asked gently, his hands never leaving her face.

"You _don't_ love me," she said.

"Yes, I do," he said.

Why was she believing him? Why was it that when he said that she just _knew_ he was telling the truth.

She stared at him uncomprehendingly, so he clarified as his hand slid down to her neck.

"I'm in love with my second in command, with my crazy archeologist's non-girlfriend, with the brightest astrophysicist in the world, with Major Samantha Carter, with you," he said, slowly drawing them closer together. She felt her last ounce of disbelief slide away, she didn't know why. Don't ask her, but she knew that he wasn't lying, that there was no misunderstanding between them anymore.

* * *

"Oh," she said, he could hear the smile in that mono-syllable. "But..." she started.

"No buts," he interrupted, her eyes looked electric now as they met his. Her mouth opened to say something, "Ah! No," he said.

And slowly... so, so slowly she smiled. And it was worth the world just to see that, "I love you, too," she whispered so quietly. He felt his heart fly to his throat, yeah... definitely worth it.

"Well, I'm glad we understand each other," he whispered, their lips were so close, so tantalizingly close, but as much as he wanted to, he just couldn't close those few inches. The whole duty and honor thing holding him back from kissing her as passionately as he could. There was a building anticipation between them for something would never come, he let it build on itself, let it grow, until the light feeling in his stomach nearly took him over. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of being this close to her, as bittersweet as it was. He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but the fact that she didn't move any closer meant she understood and that she didn't pull away meant so much more. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Why?" she whispered back.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk. I'm sorry for making you cry. I'm sorry that there are the regs. And I'm sorry that I can't kiss you right now," his breath warmed her face as he spoke.

* * *

"I think I forgive you," she whispered, having already forgotten her anger. She didn't know when she had forgiven him, but she knew that she had. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she closed her eyes, savoring the sweet touch of his lips on her skin, before he pulled away. He _loved _her.

They smiled at each other for a few moments and then he said, "I think you should go get Danny boy before he thinks you actually succeeded in killing me."

She laughed, a genuine laugh, and his smile grew, "I'll go get him."

She walked toward the pink door with a goofy smile on her face and she only looked back at him once... okay fine, twice. When she opened the door, she stepped outside letting the door close behind her and found her archaeologist sitting on the floor. He jumped up as soon as he saw her, and though he saw the smile, his eyes looked her up and down at least three times before he visibly relaxed, "He's forgiven?" Daniel asked.

She nodded, "He's forgiven."

"You sure?" he said, not doubting her, but checking that she was okay.

"Positive," she said, that goofy smile still playing on her lips, "I'll give you the details later," she said.

"But do I really want details?" he asked with a mock grimace and she giggled.

"You might..." she said mischievously.

"What happened?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Ah, see you do want details," she said and he laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he replied as they reached the door.

"Thanks Daniel," she said, turning back to him and hugging him tightly.

"What for?" he asked into her hair as he returned the hug.

"For being... Daniel," she said.

He laughed, "Anytime." She smiled into his shoulder.

They broke apart at the sound of the door clicking open, Jack stood in the doorway, watching the two with a smile she never thought she'd see again.

* * *

Daniel smiled sheepishly at Jack, "Sorry," he mumbled about his rude behavior.

"Oh don't worry about it Daniel, I'm impressed. I didn't know you had that in you," he said in his own way of saying I'm proud of you. And under that was a message just for Daniel. A thank you. A 'thanks for protecting her when I was too stupid to do it myself' sort of message.

Daniel smiled at Jack, and he knew he had heard it, that silent message of thanks, "Okay, now get out of my room, I do need _some_ sleep," he said.

Jack stepped out of the door way, "Ah, yes. We can't have the archaeologist missing his beauty sleep," he quipped, tossing back an invisible length of hair with his hand.

Daniel caught the door as it began to swing shut, "Just don't get into too much trouble tonight," he said with laughter in his voice, letting the door close before they could retort.

She giggled as they began to walk down the hallway, their hands brushing each other as they did. Once inside the elevator Sam pressed the button for their floor, but Jack had other ideas, "I wish we _could_ get into trouble tonight," he whispered into her neck, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing her back against his stomach as the elevator door slid shut.

She moaned quietly, "Hm... so do I," she whispered, her hands laying on top of his. He silently cursed the regs, which were once again the sole barrier between them. "But you know..." she said and he smiled. That voice. That was the 'Carter-I've-found-a-loop-hole' voice. He _loved_ that voice.

"What?" he whispered against her skin.

"Accidents happen, if tomorrow we were to _accidentally_ walk under the archway together, who's to say we weren't forced to kiss." He loved her. He really, _really_ did.

"And if we're sharing a bed, who's to say you didn't _accidentally _snuggle up to me," he said.

"Now you've got it," she laughed.

"Yes, I do," he said, his voice dropping to be lower, more serious. He had her now... and that was all that mattered.

She swiveled in his arms and wrapped her arms around him, "Yes, you do," she whispered, her eyes not leaving his. Those crystal blue eyes, those gate colored eyes.

There was a ding that shattered their impossibly happy world as the elevator doors slid open and suddenly they weren't alone.

"Oh, hello!" Nanna said, a slight laugh seeping into her voice at the sight of the two of them jumping apart.

"Hi," Sam muttered, a blush painting her cheeks, "Nanna, right?"

"Mmhmm," she said, her dark eyes alight with mirth, "Now what were you two doing in an elevator? Alone," Nanna hinted.

Jack glared, "Talking," he said, to the point.

"Oh is that all," she laughed, "Well, I best be letting you two get back to... _talking," _she said, stepping into the elevator and shuffling them out, "Good night," she said.

"Night," Jack and Sam spoke at the same time. They began to walk away but Jack turned back, "Thanks," he said, as the elevator doors came to a close, and call him crazy, but he saw a bright light. The distinct light of an ascended being in that elevator... in the exact same sopt that Nanna had been standing, "Non-interfering my ass," he muttered.

"What was that?" Sam asked, grabbing his hand in hers.

He smiled, squeezing her hand tighter in his, "Nothing."

The walk back to the room was filled with a comfortable silence and the warmth of his hand in hers. Having both showered already they settled into bed and Jack didn't even try to go for the floor.

She settled close to him, her head on his chest, her leg around his and his arm around her. It was...perfect. It was bliss.

* * *

The next morning Sam woke up with an arm around her waist and his breath tickling the back of her neck. She settled closer against him, content to stay there for just a little while longer. She smiled, and for some reason could not remember why the world had seemed so awful just yesterday. Okay maybe not for _some _reason. Maybe it was the reason whose hands had a mind of their own as he came awake and traced non-existent patterns across her side.

"Good morning," he whispered into the back of her neck.

She rolled over, sliding closer to him in a way she knew she shouldn't, "Good morning," she placed her lips next to his ear and felt him shiver as she whispered, "Sir."

"Good morning..." Daniel said in an awkward interruption of their happy little bubble. They both jumped apart so fast they both hit the floor on opposite sides of the bed. Daniel gave Sam a smile as he offered her his hand, "Smooth," he whispered as he pulled her up.

"Shut up," she mumbled and smacked his chest as he tried not to laugh and failed miserably. Teal'c stood in the door way and smirked and for once she knew exactly what was going on in the big guys head.

* * *

Here it was.

There was the indescribable flower that was the color Carter. Yeah, he named the color Carter, and he liked it, it was the one word in his infinite vocabulary that he felt the color deserved.

There was such a small distance between himself and the archway. Between himself and Sam. And each step brought him closer to it. To them.

Sam was walking so close to him that he almost tripped over her more than once, but he didn't mind, not at all.

"Ah..." Corin said, as they stepped under the archway. They all turned to look at him but his cheeks turned the color of his robes and he mumbled, "Never mind."

"No, it's okay Corin," Sam said, taking a step closer to him and knocking off his baseball cap with the back of her hand, "Wouldn't want to break their tradition now would we, _Sir_."

He smirked, his arm looping around her back, "Of course not, _Carter_."

Time seemed to slow and the sound of the muttering towns people didn't matter. The pink faded to black and white as his sights set in on what he wanted.

The kiss was heated at first, too many years of pent up passion can do that to you. But it slowed and turned bitter sweet as they both remembered that this would probably be their last kiss for quite sometime. So he savored every second of it. Every nano second. Her lips were soft under his as her fingers ran through his hair. His hands held her too close, too tight. He held on to their last moment of bliss.

"Who knew accidents could be so fun?" he whispered and smiled when he heard that tinkling laugh.

* * *

The walk back to the gate somehow seemed shorter this time around. They were going back to Earth. To where their feelings weren't allowed. To home.

It was bittersweet. As she was sure it would be for quite a while. But there was a future there. Somewhere off in the distance.

But for now, she had this. She had Daniel and Teal'c. And she had him. Had his smirk and his grey hair. Had his laugh and his jokes. Had his happiness and his pain. She had his heart.

She took one last look around as she walked up the steps of the gate and said goodbye to the pink planet which held many of her secrets.

"Hey Carter..." she turned around and found his chocolate brown eyes.

"Sir?" she asked, a smile forming on her face to match his.

"Happy birthday," he said as he stepped through the gate. She laughed and followed him, back home.

* * *

FIN.

Like it? Hate it? PLEASE tell me.


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